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Joining Technologies for Automotive Lithium-

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Conference Paper · January 2010

DOI: 10.1115/MSEC2010-34168

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 DRAFT Proceedings of the ASME 2010 International Manufacturing Science and Engineering
Conference
MSEC2010
October 12-15, 2010, Erie, Pennsylvania, USA

MSEC2010-34168

JOINING TECHNOLOGIES FOR AUTOMOTIVE LITHIUM-ION BATTERY

MANUFACTURING – A REVIEW

S. Shawn Lee, Tae H. Kim and S. Jack Hu

Department of Mechanical Engineering
The University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Wayne W. Cai and Jeffrey A. Abell

Manufacturing Systems Research Laboratory
General Motors R&D Center
Warren, MI, USA

ABSTRACT sustainable, and portable energy applications. Portable

Automotive battery packs for electric vehicles (EV),
hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), and plug-in hybrid electric
vehicles (PHEV) typically consist of a large number of battery
cells. These cells must be assembled together with robust
mechanical and electrical joints. Joining of battery cells
presents several challenges such as welding of highly
conductive and dissimilar materials, multiple sheets joining,
and varying material thickness combinations. In addition,
different cell types and pack configurations have implications
for battery joining methods. This paper provides a
comprehensive review of joining technologies and processes
for automotive lithium-ion battery manufacturing. It details
the advantages and disadvantages of the joining technologies as
related to battery manufacturing, including resistance welding,
laser welding, ultrasonic welding and mechanical joining, and
discusses corresponding manufacturing issues. Joining
processes for electrode-to-tab, tab-to-tab (tab-to-bus bar), and
module-to-module assembly are discussed with respect to cell
types and pack configuration.
KEYWORDS
Automotive Battery Manufacturing, Battery Joining
Technologies, Conductive Materials Joining, Dissimilar
Materials Joining, Multiple Sheets Joining, Battery Cell Types.
1 INTRODUCTION
Re-chargeable batteries are everywhere in our life today
and they are considered a key technology for renewable,
electronic devices, such as mobile telephones, notebooks, etc.,
rely on batteries for their power supply. New development in
high energy/power density batteries is a key enabler for auto
manufacturers in developing fuel efficient vehicles.
The performance of battery electric vehicles (BEV)
depends on the power and energy capacity of battery packs.
Of different battery options, the lithium-ion batteries in
particular have received great attention since they provide the
highest energy density of all available systems [1], and are one
critical technology that may determine the auto industry’s
future in the next several decades.
In current automotive lithium-ion battery manufacturing,
different sizes and shapes of cells are being manufactured [2-4]
and are subsequently assembled into packs of different
configurations [5-7]. An automotive battery pack typically
consists of a large number of battery cells, sometimes several
hundreds, even thousands, to meet desired power and capacity
needs. Several cells are usually joined together to form a
module. There are tens of modules in a battery pack [8]. As
a result, a significant amount of joining such as welding is
needed to deliver electricity in a battery pack. It is not easy to
join such a large number of battery cells because of the
difficulty with welding multiple layers of thin, highly
conductive and dissimilar materials, with 100% reliability. In
addition, automobile battery is exposed to the harsh driving
environment such as vibration, severe temperature, and
possible crash - which can affect the battery performance and
safety. Furthermore, hundreds of thousands of battery packs

1 Copyright © 20xx by ASME

will be produced annually for automotive volume production. TABLE 1 – WELDABILITY CHART FOR BATTERY TAB
As such, batteries must be assembled using robust joining MATERIALS IN RESISTANCE WELDING
processes and the development of effective joining Materials
Aluminum Copper Nickel
technologies for battery manufacturing is becoming an essential (Melting
(660°C) (1080°C) (1450°C)
condition for auto manufacturers. Point °C)
A significant amount of research has been conducted on
Difficult Difficult
the lithium-ion battery cells in terms of cell material, design, Aluminum Fair
- low joint strength/ - low joint
safety, and performance [9-12]. But, very limited literature is (660°C) - electrode sticking
electrode sticking strength
available on lithium-ion battery manufacturing. As the size of
the battery pack increases for BEVs, new manufacturing Fair
Copper
challenges are being presented as stated above. Currently, Good - low joint
most auto manufacturers are entering the BEV market, but they (1080°C)
strength
are having difficulties in realizing battery manufacturing due to
the lack of experience or precedent technologies, especially Nickel
battery joining methods. Hence, this paper provides a Excellent
(1450°C)
comprehensive review of the state of the art joining
technologies for battery manufacturing, pack architectures and
their implications to joining processes. Projection welding, a modification of spot welding, shows
a good feasibility to apply to battery tab welding. As described
in Figure 1 (a), projection joints increase current density and
2 STATE OF THE ART JOINING TECHNOLOGIES IN focus the heat. This enables welding thicker tabs and
BATTERY MANUFACTURING produces repeatable welds with fixed resistance [14]. Figure
This section reviews joining technologies that are currently 1 (b) shows slotted bus bars that can prevent current shunting
used in battery manufacturing (i.e., resistance welding, laser by forcing the current path through the cells [14]. Nickel
welding, ultrasonic welding and mechanical joining), and plating is another means of enhancing weldability of highly
discusses manufacturing issues with regard to the joining of conductive materials. Nickel alloys are known as electrically
lithium-ion batteries.. and thermally resistive and relatively easy to weld [15]. A
study on the parallel gap resistance welding of Ni-plated
2.1 Resistance Welding copper and Ni-plated steel showed that Nickel coating on a
Resistance welding relies on the electrical resistance at the conductive material could help improve joint quality while
metal interface to cause a localized heating and fusion of keeping electrical resistance between the cells low [16].
materials. The pressure exerted by the electrodes, through
which the electrical current flows, holds the workpieces to be
welded in close contact before, during, and after the welding Projections
cycle [13].
Resistance welding process is very fast and can be easily
Electrodes
automated. It has a wide application in the automotive,
electronics, and heavy industries. However, resistance
(a) (b)
welding has many challenges when applied to battery welding.
First, lithium-ion batteries use highly conductive materials such FIGURE 1 – (a) PROJECTION WELDING; (b) BATTERY CELL
JOINING BY RESISTANCE WELDING (COURTESY OF:
as aluminum and copper for electrodes and tabs, which are not
MIYACHI UNITEK CORP.)
best suited to resistance welding. TABLE 1 is a simple
weldability summary for aluminum, copper, and nickel, the
most commonly used materials for battery tab. Aluminum Ni-plated copper
and copper (i.e., main materials for battery tab) are difficult to
be resistance welded due to their high thermal and electrical
Ni-plated steel
conductivities. Second, generally in fusion welding (e.g.,
resistance welding or laser welding), dissimilar materials are
difficult to weld due to different melting temperatures. Lastly, FIGURE 2 – RESISTANCE WELDING OF NI-PLATED
it is difficult to produce large-sized weld nuggets in for battery MATERIALS [16]
tab joining due to material thickness, but large size welds are
desirable to reduce electrical resistance of the joints and heat Resistance welding has been widely used in small sized
generation when large amount of current flows through the and cylindrical battery cell manufacturing because of its
cells. advantages. However, there are still some major issues to

2 Copyright © 20xx by ASME

overcome: poor weldability for highly conductive multi-layered
materials and dissimilar materials.
2.2 Laser Welding
Laser welding is a non-contact process that joins multiple
pieces of metal through the laser. The weld is formed as the
intense laser beam rapidly heats the material, typically in milli-
seconds [17]. Laser welding is used to weld battery
electrolyte containers, interconnectors, and bus-components.
As a non contact welding process, laser welding has
several advantages for battery pack manufacturing. Since
welding with a low power pulsed Nd:YAG laser produces the
smallest heat affected zone and a possibility of multiple sheets
joining, laser welding is sometimes considered the optimum
welding tool for applications involving lithium-ion batteries.
However, the need of precise joint fit-up and the high
reflectivity and high thermal conductivity of the battery
materials (e.g., Cu and Al) make laser welding difficult in
battery pack manufacturing. Usually, a poor metallurgical
affinity between these materials limits laser welding process
and leads to a large number of weld defects such as brittle
phases, crack sensitivity, and etc. [18]. However, it has been
reported that the mechanical characteristics (e.g., pull strength
of the joint) can be improved by applying a proper beam offset
and appropriate coating materials as an interlayer [18].
Positive results have been reported when controlling the
melting ratio of dissimilar metals [19].
Figure 3 (a) shows an example of laser welding
application. The battery tab here is made of nickel and the case
material is stainless steel. In battery tab welding as described
in Figure 3 (b), weld penetration must be controlled accurately
so that the weld nugget does not penetrate into the case [20].
(a) (b)
FIGURE 3 – (a) BATTERY CASE SEALING WITH LASER
WELDING; (b) A NICKEL BATTERY TAB LASER-WELDED
TO A STAINLESS STEEL CASING [20]
2.3 Ultrasonic Welding
Ultrasonic metal welding is a process in which a high
frequency, usually 20 kHz or above, of ultrasonic energy is
used to produce oscillating shears to create solid-state bonds
between two sheets clamped under pressure [21]. Ultrasonic
welding can be used to join a wide range of types of metal
sheets or thin foils. The lateral forces, generated at high
frequency, break down contamination and produce an atomic
bond between metal interfaces at elevated temperatures [22].
FIGURE 4 – APPLICATIONS OF ULTRASONIC WELDING
FOR PLASTICS (LEFT) AND METALS (RIGHT)
Clamping force
Sonotrode
Multiple
layers of
workpiece
Weld
Anvil propagation
(stationary)
Welding time
FIGURE 5 – WELD PROPAGATION IN ULTRASONIC
WELDING OF MULTIPLE SHEETS
In contrast to traditional fusion welding processes,
ultrasonic welding has several inherent advantages derived
from its solid-state process characteristics [21, 23]. The main
advantage of ultrasonic welding is that it works well for
dissimilar materials and multiple sheets (Figure 4), which is
crucial for cell joining as well as for battery tab joining [24].
Ultrasonic welding is attractive for battery manufacturing
because of its low temperature and relatively good performance
for Al, Cu and other highly conductive materials. In addition,
ultrasonic metal welding is also environment-friendly since it
does not use any filler metals or gases. The disadvantages of
ultrasonic metal welding could be, however, a limitation in
joint thickness (< 3mm), sensitivity to product/process
variations such as surface conditions, and challenges in joining
high-strength or high-hardness materials. Nevertheless,
ultrasonic welding is believed to be superior to other types of
welding methods, especially for joining of pouch-type
prismatic battery cells, because of the good weldability for
dissimilar and multiple thin layers welding.
Figure 5 describes how the joints through multiple metal
sheets can be generated by ultrasonic welding. It is believed
that the mechanism of multiple layer joining in ultrasonic
welding is the propagation of the welds layer by layer [24].
However, more fundamental researches on multiple layers
joining of ultrasonic welding will be needed.
3 Copyright © 20xx by ASME
2.4 Mechanical Joining
Mechanical joining can be categorized by two distinct
groups: fasteners and integral joints. Fasteners include nuts,
bolts, screws, pins and rivets. Integral joints include seams,
crimps, snap-fits, and shrink-fits that are designed into the
components to be connected. For example, “snap-fits” is a
mechanical joining method where part-to-part attachment is
accomplished with locating and locking features (constraint
features) [25].
In the battery pack manufacturing, welding can be an
effective solution on a small scale joining, e.g., for connecting
multiple battery cells through battery tabs or bus bars,.
However, when applied to module-to-module joining, welding
may be not appropriate for joining those large modules due to
battery maintenance and service concerns. Instead, by using
threaded bus bars or metal rods, individual units or modules
can be fastened by bolts and nuts. Hence, the major
advantage of mechanical joining is the ease of disassembly for
maintenance and repair. In addition, mechanical joining is
generally performed without heating except maybe in a few
particular cases (i.e. interference fit).
TABLE 2 summarizes the characteristics of the current
joining technologies in battery pack manufacturing.
3 JOINING AND CELL/PACK CONFIGURATION
Unlike lithium-ion batteries used in laptops, cell phones,
and many other portable devices, batteries for automotive
applications requires big sized battery packs in order to supply
the power capacity needed for vehicles. Companies have
been trying to develop their own battery pack configurations in
order to achieve safety, high power, long life cycle, and cost
effectiveness. This section reviews different cell types of
lithium-ion batteries currently manufactured and their
implications to joining methods, and investigates joining
processes for each level of battery pack manufacturing.
3.1 Types of Battery Cells and Implications to
Joining Methods
Types of Lithium-ion Battery Cells
Conventionally, the cylindrical battery cells were the
mainstream of the battery market from alkaline batteries to
NiMH or lithium-ion batteries. However, when rechargeable
batteries such as NiMH or lithium-ion batteries have been
considered for automotive battery applications, cells of
prismatic type have been utilized because it is known to have
higher volumetric efficiency despite the slightly lower energy
densities than cylindrical type [26-27].

TABLE 2 – SUMMARY OF BATTERY JOINING TABLE 3 – AUTOMOTIVE BATTERY CHARACTERIZATION

TECHNOLOGIES
Cell Joining
Pack Configuration
Joining Structure Method
Advantages Disadvantages
methods
Cell Unit
Welding/
• Low cost • Difficult to produce large mechanical
• Efficient and fully nuggets fastening
Resistance automated • Difficult for highly Cylindrical
↓
welding • No filler metals or gases conductive materials Module
Mechanical
• Existing technology for • Electrode sticking/ wear (or Pack)
fastening
weld quality control • Possible expulsions

• Non contact process • Hard to produce a large

Cell Pack
• Less thermal input – less joint area
Laser distortion • Needs good joint fit-up Solid Mostly
welding • Very high precision of • Material reflectivity Container mechanical
welding • Need of shielding gas Prismatic fastening
• High speed • High initial cost
Module
• Restricted to lap joints
• Solid state process
• Limited in joint thickness
• Excellent for highly Pack Mostly
(< 3mm) Module
conductive materials Welding
• Challenging on high Pouch
• Good for thin sheets or ↓
strength, hardness Prismatic
Ultrasonic wires Mechanical
materials Cell
welding • Good for multi-layered fastening
• Sensitive to surface
sheets
conditions
• Gauge ratio insensitive
• Possible audible noise
• Dissimilar materials
• Large weld indentation
• No filler metals or gases There are three commonly used battery cell structures in
• Sonotrode sticking
current lithium-ion battery manufacturing: cylindrical, solid-
Mechanical • Ease disassembly • Added parts and mass container prismatic, and pouch prismatic. Nevertheless, it is
joining • No use of heat source • Labor-intensive still to be seen which cell type would be better, and companies
are making choices and developing reconfigurable battery pack

4 Copyright © 20xx by ASME

manufacturing systems to accommodate different cell types.
TABLE 3 describes pack configuration using each types of
battery cells and the corresponding joining methods.
Joining for Cylindrical Cells
Typically, there are two types of cylindrical cells in terms
of the shape of the positive/negative tab: one has flat tabs and
the other is bolted. The joining methods corresponding to
these two tab shapes are also distinguishable as shown in
Figure 6. For joining cells with flat ends, welding mostly is
used, whereas the bolted ends are purposely manufactured to
mechanically join the cells.
Figure 7 shows an example to connect the cylindrical
battery cells using projection welding, a special type of
resistance welding. A component, named ‘interconnector’
placed between the cells has multiple projections at its bottom
and sides. The interconnector is projection welded at its base
to one cell, and then projected welded to another cell at the
sides.
Bolted tabs for Flat tabs with
mechanical joining bus bar welding
(a) (b)
FIGURE 6 – (a) MECHANICAL JOINING FOR BOLTED
TABBED CYLINDRICAL CELLS [4]; (b) RESISTANCE
WELDING FOR FLAT TABBED CYLINDRICAL CELLS [28]
Projection
Projection
Welding
Cell
` Joining for Pouch Type Prismatic Cells
Interconnector
Cell
Cell
FIGURE 7 – RESISTANCE WELDING APPLICATION FOR
CYLINDRICAL CELLS JOINING [29]
Joining for Solid-Container Type Prismatic Cells
For solid-container type prismatic cells, the electrode
group that contains positive/ negative electrodes, separators,
and all the other active materials are inserted into a prismatic
shaped metal or plastic container and sealed all together.
Unlike the pouch type, the solid-container prismatic cell has
much more rigidness to be handled individually. Hence, their
assembly structures and joining methods are different from
those of the pouch type of battery cell. Connecting each
individual cell is performed mostly by mechanical joining
using bus bars or electrical lugs, and sometimes by welding
(Figure 8).
Figure 9 is an example of the battery pack configuration
for container type prismatic cells. Individual cells in the form
of rigid plastic containers are inserted into a module case and
connected in series by bus bars. Then, these battery modules
are connected together with to forma pack.
(a) (b) Welding
Mechanical fastening
(a) (b)
FIGURE 8 – TYPICAL JOINING METHODS FOR SOLID-
CONTAINER TYPE PRISMATIC CELLS:(a) MECHANICAL
FASTENING [7]; (b) WELDING [30].
Anode Bus bar
(connects individual cells)
Cathode
Cells
(4 of)
Individual cell Module case
FIGURE 9 – BATTERY PACK STRUCTURE FOR SOLID-
CONTAINER TYPE PRISMATIC CELLS (COURTESY OF:
WWW.CLEANMPG.COM)
The other type of prismatic cells is the pouch type.
Despite its excessive flexibility and softness, a number of
battery manufactures produce the pouch type of battery cells
due to its compactness and high spatial efficiency. The multi-
layered laminates (Figure 10) are made of a thin metal film of
aluminum cover flat-wound or cut-and-stacked
positive/negative electrodes and separators with electrode leads
attached, and the edges of the laminate film can be heat sealed
[31].
Because of the pliability of the cells, holding fixtures are
needed for the pouch type battery cells to prevent battery cell
pouches from getting loose or misaligned. Such fixtures
include cartridges, rigid cases, and supporting trays (Figure 11).
5 Copyright © 20xx by ASME
Within these structures, cells are joined by welding in most A ‘unit’ is a group of two or more battery cells joined
cases and sometimes by mechanical joining as described in together. If one cell is malfunctioning, a serious problem
Figure 12. might occur in the whole battery pack, and the defective cell
needs to be replaced with a new one. Thus, in the terms of
battery maintenance, this special terminology, called ‘unit’, is
Heat Sealed introduced as the smallest battery unit that can be replaced
Region without breaking any other units in the battery module or pack.
Electrode This ‘unit’ level is normally an assembly stage between the
Leads (or ‘cell’ and the ‘module’. However, it should be noted that the
Tabs) solid-container type batteries do not have the ‘unit’ level since
a single cell in solid-container type battery packs is a
Electrode replaceable ‘unit’ in terms of reversibility.
Group within A ‘module’ is formed by connecting multiple cells or units.
Pouch As an independent operable battery unit, the module is installed
FIGURE 10 – SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM OF A POUCH TYPE with various sensors such as voltage and temperature sensors,
PRISMATIC BATTERY CELL [31] safety components, and power and heat management
electronics. Modules could be varied with their sizes, based
on how they are allocated in the battery pack.
Cartridge A ‘pack’ is the final structure of the automotive battery that
cell
will be directly installed in the BEVs. It could be tens of
cell
cell
Supporting cell modules or just one module. The hierarchical structure of a
tray battery pack and the associated joining needs are shown in
cell
Rigid Figure 13.
case

(a) (b) (c)

Joining Processes of Battery Pack
FIGURE 11 – EXAMPLE OF HOLDING FIXTURES FOR
POUCH TYPE CELL JOINING ((a) CARTRIDGE [32]; (b)
SUPPORTING TRAY [5]; (c) RIGID CASE [33])
Cell Level Unit Level Module Level Pack Level

Welding Bolt joining tray Electrodes Case Module-to-

Cell-to-Cell Unit-to-Unit
-to-Tab (Sealing) Module
cell
cell
cell

(a) (b)
FIGURE 13 – THE HIERARCHY OF BATTERY PACK
FIGURE 12 – JOINING EXAMPLES FOR POUCH TYPE
MANUFACTURING
PRISMATIC CELLS ((a) WELDING [34]; (b) MECHANICAL
JOINING [5])
Cell Level Joining (Inside Cell)
There are two Main joining processes at the cell level:
joining of positive/negative electrodes and joining of electrodes
3.2 Joining in Battery Assembly Hierarchy
to the current collector (i.e., tab), but sometimes the two
This section reviews joining processes in different stages
processes can be performed simultaneously. Since, the
of battery pack manufacturing and addresses major
thickness of an electrode film is only a couple of tens of
manufacturing issues in each stage.
microns [35] or even less than a micron [36-37], the joining of
Architecture of Battery Packs these thin films needs a very delicate welding process.
From a manufacturing point of view, automotive battery Detailed joining procedures in cell level are beyond the scope
assembly can be divided into three levels, i.e., cell level, unit of this paper.
level, and module/pack level.
Unit Level Joining (Cell-to-Cell)
A battery ‘cell’ is defined as the simplest operating unit in
To connect battery cells in series or in parallel, positive or
a storage battery [21]. It is composed of positive and negative
negative tabs are joined together with or without electrical
electrodes, separators, electrolytes, and a case.

6 Copyright © 20xx by ASME

connection units such as bus bars, which are normally in the which leads to the rupture of individual cells and ultimately
shape of flat strips and made by copper or aluminum for high results in short circuiting of the battery [28].
conductivity. Table 4 describes typical materials that are used (a)
for battery components.
The joining of cells has two parts: tab-to-tab joining and
tab-to-bus bar joining as described in Figure 14 (a). In pouch
type cell joining, multiple cells and the tab can be also joined Ultrasonic cell
simultaneously because the tab shape of most of the pouch type welding cell
cells is flat and rectangular, and they sometimes need to be or cell
resistance cell
joined in parallel. Figure 14 (b) shows the case of parallel cell
welding Resistance
connection for multiple battery tabs and one bus bar. On the welding
other hand, the thickness of bus bar is usually much thicker (a)
than that of battery cell tab. Consequently, tab-to-bus bar (b) Battery tabs
joining requires high gauge ratio’s joining, which may limit the
adequate joining method for battery cells. When compare to Multiple sheet
the cell level joining, materials to be joined in unit level are joining
now much thicker and could be multiple layers. In addition, busbar
for pouch type prismatic case, positive battery tab is typically
made by aluminum while negative tab is copper, so it also
requires a dissimilar material joining since they may be joined
to the same bus bar. For such reasons, there exist a number of (b)
manufacturing challenges in this stage. Hence, unit level FIGURE 14 – (a) EXAMPLES OF UNIT LEVEL JOINING [38-
joining is believed to be the most important joining process in 39]; (b) MULTIPLE SHEET JOINING IN CELL-TO-CELL
battery pack manufacturing, which needs further studies. JOINING

TABLE 4 – COMPONENT MATERIALS OF LITHIUM-ION

BATTERIES Bolt/nut
Solid-container Pouch joining
Cell type Cylindrical
prismatic prismatic
Anode
Copper Copper Copper
electrode
Negative Aluminum, Aluminum,
Copper
tab nickel nickel Bolt joining
Cathode FIGURE 15 – MODULE/PACK LEVEL OF BATTERY JOINING
Aluminum Aluminum Aluminum
electrode [5-6]
Aluminum, Aluminum,
Positive tab Aluminum
nickel nickel 3.3 Requirements for Joining Processes in
Automotive Battery Manufacturing
Module/Pack Level Joining (Unit-to-Unit/ Module-to- Based on the previous sections the following list is the
Module) core requirements that should be considered in the battery
High level of battery joining such as module or pack level joining processes in order to meet the specifications for the
joining is not considered as critical as unit level joining because high power battery packs.
most of them are conducted by mechanical joining using Joining Process for Highly Conductive Materials
bolts/nuts or wires. In fact, welding is not recommended in Copper, aluminum, nickel and their alloys are the most
this stage due to the need of disassembly of battery packs. As frequently used materials in battery manufacturing because of
shown in Figure 15, multiple units or modules are mechanically their high electrical and thermal conductivity. The weldability
joined. of these materials can be referred to TABLE 1. Generally in
In this higher level of joining, enhancing a spatial resistance welding, those highly conductive materials are not
efficiency with a large number of battery components will be a suited for resistance weld due to the low electrical resistance
key issue while meeting all the requirements that a battery pack and high thermal conductivity. Laser welding of these
should have (e.g., power, energy capacity and etc.). In materials shows a similar tendency with the weldability in
addition, it should be noted that an improper assembly of resistance welding [40]. Ultrasonic welding, however, is less
bolted joints with electrical lugs can cause excessive heating, sensitive to conductive materials due to its solid state bond

7 Copyright © 20xx by ASME

characteristics. In fact, ultrasonic welding is very suitable for
joining soft, low strength materials.
Joining Processes for Dissimilar Materials
Dissimilar materials combination is another obstacle to
joining battery cells. In series connection between battery
tabs, there must be joining processes with dissimilar material
condition. As referred to Table 4, the positive tab of the
battery cell is usually made by aluminum, and the negative tab
is made by copper. Bus bars are manufactured with various
materials, but typically aluminum or copper alloys, brass, in
some cases, plated steel. The hybrid connection (series +
parallel) also has joints between dissimilar materials.
Proper Joining Technologies for Joints with Large
Area
Inside the battery pack in BEV, high current flows through
the joints between cells to deliver electricity. Since these
joints are the bottle neck of the electric circuit, temperature of
this area is easily raised due to electrical resistance to the
current flow, which may be harmful to lithium-ion battery cells.
Therefore, large joint areas give very positive effects not only
to increase mechanical strength of the joints, but also to reduce
temperature and thermal stress at the joints. In this sense,
ultrasonic welding is more suitable for battery tab joining than
the other welding, for example, resistance welding.
Reliable Joining for Harsh Battery Environments
As the BEV meets numerous harsh driving conditions such
as vibration, severe weather, and humidity, the joints in the
battery pack will experience possible mechanical and thermal
fatigues and corrosion. During charging and discharging, the
battery also undergoes severe thermal fatigues at the joints.
To minimize, having robust joints for the battery pack is a must
to achieve.
System for Robust Joining Processes
A battery pack for electric vehicles consists of several
hundreds of battery cells to drive electric motors, which lead to
a large number of joining between battery cells. Therefore,
building a system with robust joining processes is required for
automation in consequence of the need of mass production.
In addition, a weld quality monitoring system is needed
because a few of weld defects or weak joints may lower the
whole performance of the battery pack.
4 CONCLUSIONS
This paper conducted a comprehensive review of the state
of the art joining technologies for battery manufacturing,
battery pack architectures and their implications to joining
processes to provide valuable information for selecting the
most suitable joining process for lithium-ion battery packs.
1. Automotive battery joining can be divided into three
levels, i.e., cell level (inside cell joining), unit level (cell-
to-cell joining), and module/pack level (unit-to-unit/
module-to-module joining).
2. Unit level joining is believed to be the most important
joining process in battery pack manufacturing since the
joining in this level is mostly done by welding in which
more manufacturing challenges exist (e.g., dissimilar
materials welding, multiple sheets joining).
3. There are three commonly used battery cell structures in
the current lithium-ion battery manufacturing:
cylindrical, solid-container type prismatic, and pouch
type prismatic. These cell types have implications for
joining methods.
4. The shape of battery tabs has implications for joining
methods: joining of flat/rectangular shaped battery tabs
is mostly done by welding and joining of bolted tabs is
by mechanical fastening.
5. Robust joining technologies can be developed by
understanding the joint requirements of the battery.
Welding of highly conductive and dissimilar materials
for fine joints, creating large joint areas for sufficient
current flow, and robust joints against fatigues and
corrosion for long life cycle are needed for battery
manufacturing.
5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This work was supported by General Motors Collaborative
Research Laboratory in Advanced Vehicle Manufacturing at the
University of Michigan.
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